New thought on increasing pullups

[USMCGarcia]

Let me start off by saying I am a US Marine, and yes I know that doing pullups is the best way to increase pullups. That being said I've never achieved the perfect 20 pullups that the Corps requires, 15 is my max. Not bad but far from perfect.

My question is, do you think flexed arm hangs would help build endurance for pullups? I've done pyramid pullups, weighted pullups, greasing the groove, etc. And nothing seems to quite get there. So flexed arm hangs popped into my head.

Any thoughts?

[Protege385]

Let me start off by saying I am a US Marine, and yes I know that doing pullups is the best way to increase pullups. That being said I've never achieved the perfect 20 pullups that the Corps requires, 15 is my max. Not bad but far from perfect.

My question is, do you think flexed arm hangs would help build endurance for pullups? I've done pyramid pullups, weighted pullups, greasing the groove, etc. And nothing seems to quite get there. So flexed arm hangs popped into my head.

Any thoughts?

Drop 20 lbs and you could pull it off no problem

[DCHodges36]

Pull ups, Chin ups, and Dips have ALWAYS been my favorite work outs. (I said in my profilie that I favor calisthenics over any training...ANY) I usually ask people (especially my clients) to get a feel for what type of exercises they like by asking them, "if you could take home one exercise equipment free of charge without regard to the size of it and whether it would fit in your house which machine or apparatus would that be?"

My answer would be simply a pull up bar. My parents bought me one when I was a teenager and like my nephew does now I always made it a rule if I walked by it to owe myself 20.

Question before answer...I tried to google image "pyramid pull ups" and nothing came up for me. I kept getting cheerleading pull ups...so what are those exactly? Can you describe it at least. And what is greasing the groove?

Okay now to your answer:

You are right (training for specificity), the best way to increase your pull up is to DO pull ups but what happens when you get to that sticking point? When I googled the flexed arm hanged I thought what does that really do? Um, I would say holding it at midrange is a lot better than all the way at the top because your muscles' cross bridges are maximally fired at optimal length which is during that mid range of motion (ROM) rather than holding way at the top which is the definition of "active insufficiency."

That's like saying...if I held a push up stance as long as I could would that help increase my number of push ups? Uhh, I would say no BUT if you held it at midrange it would be more effective because the muscles used to hold that position are FIRING!! (feel me?)

Specifically for me weighted pull ups helps me build up my speed AND endurance when it comes to my increased repetitions. I usually start off my workouts with weighted pull ups and ideally I like to take the weight off and do some more sets at the end of my work out and I feel SOOOO EXPLOSIVE!!!!

I also agree with the previous comment on dropping your weight because obviously the less you way the easier it will be. But watch doing 15 now at your weight and dropping X amount of pounds your repetitions will increase EASILY!

I hope I was helpful.

Helpful hints for the muscle physiology is to look up the role of actin-myosin, and troponin and tropomyosin. Also the definition of both active and passive insufficiency along with training for specificity.

DKH

Let me start off by saying I am a US Marine, and yes I know that doing pullups is the best way to increase pullups. That being said I've never achieved the perfect 20 pullups that the Corps requires, 15 is my max. Not bad but far from perfect.

My question is, do you think flexed arm hangs would help build endurance for pullups? I've done pyramid pullups, weighted pullups, greasing the groove, etc. And nothing seems to quite get there. So flexed arm hangs popped into my head.

Any thoughts?

[USMCGarcia]

Pull ups, Chin ups, and Dips have ALWAYS been my favorite work outs. (I said in my profilie that I favor calisthenics over any training...ANY) I usually ask people (especially my clients) to get a feel for what type of exercises they like by asking them, "if you could take home one exercise equipment free of charge without regard to the size of it and whether it would fit in your house which machine or apparatus would that be?"

My answer would be simply a pull up bar. My parents bought me one when I was a teenager and like my nephew does now I always made it a rule if I walked by it to owe myself 20.

Question before answer...I tried to google image "pyramid pull ups" and nothing came up for me. I kept getting cheerleading pull ups...so what are those exactly? Can you describe it at least. And what is greasing the groove?

Okay now to your answer:

You are right (training for specificity), the best way to increase your pull up is to DO pull ups but what happens when you get to that sticking point? When I googled the flexed arm hanged I thought what does that really do? Um, I would say holding it at midrange is a lot better than all the way at the top because your muscles' cross bridges are maximally fired at optimal length which is during that mid range of motion (ROM) rather than holding way at the top which is the definition of "active insufficiency."

That's like saying...if I held a push up stance as long as I could would that help increase my number of push ups? Uhh, I would say no BUT if you held it at midrange it would be more effective because the muscles used to hold that position are FIRING!! (feel me?)

Specifically for me weighted pull ups helps me build up my speed AND endurance when it comes to my increased repetitions. I usually start off my workouts with weighted pull ups and ideally I like to take the weight off and do some more sets at the end of my work out and I feel SOOOO EXPLOSIVE!!!!

I also agree with the previous comment on dropping your weight because obviously the less you way the easier it will be. But watch doing 15 now at your weight and dropping X amount of pounds your repetitions will increase EASILY!

I hope I was helpful.

Helpful hints for the muscle physiology is to look up the role of actin-myosin, and troponin and tropomyosin. Also the definition of both active and passive insufficiency along with training for specificity.

DKH

pyramid pullups are doing em in sets of like 6,5,4,3,2,1 and then back to 1,2,3,4,5,6

[MyWeightLifting]

maybe try kipping pull ups and then try to transition to regular pull ups again. Otherwise, yah, just do more pull ups, more frequently.

[nutsy54]

Tried this program yet? It mixes up the specific workouts, but still follows the basic rule: Do a lot of pullups

[WarWithWeakness]

My question is, do you think flexed arm hangs would help build endurance for pullups? I've done pyramid pullups, weighted pullups, greasing the groove, etc. And nothing seems to quite get there. So flexed arm hangs popped into my head.

Any thoughts?

I think flexed arm hangs (by which I assume you mean holding a position mid-pull up) would be good for getting good at flexed arm hangs. If you've got a particular sticking point, sure, work on that area but imo, you'd be better served by partials that just use that part of the ROM.

All in all, I still think regular pull ups are 9 times out 10 going to be your best bet. You say you've tried all of those other methods, but for how long? Honestly, you're heavier than me and can do more pull ups than I can; but those methods do work, and if you stick with them you will continue to make progress.

[Tyciol]

One thing to keep in mind is that if we hold a flexed-arm hang as long as possible, as the muscle fails we will eventually reach that mid-range position and are free to hold there as well.

[vampborn]

15 is my max.

Any thoughts?

I'm curious what causes you to fail at 15. Is it muscle failure? If so what muscles? Are you out of breath? Are your hands shot?